On the November 27, 2006 edition of Today, as noted here, Matt Lauer portentously declared:
After careful consideration, NBC News has decided the change in terminology is warranted and what is going on in Iraq can now be characterized as civil war.
On that evening's Countdown, Keith Olbermann chimed in, suggesting that NBC's pronouncement was comparable to Walter Cronkite's 1968 declaration that the Vietnam War was lost.
Although NBC, without fanfare, stopped using the "civil war" term sometime beginning in September, 2007, it has never--despite the success of the surge and the marked decrease in sectarian violence--declared the civil war over. Could today be the day? NBC's parent company, General Electric, has signed a deal with Iraq worth billions of dollars to it and Siemens for the provision of electric generation equipment.
So, what is it? Is GE venturing into a civil-war zone, or has the time, finally, come for NBC to admit the civil war is over?
